"Coming into this game, we've been actually shooting the ball well from the stripe," admitted CF coach Joe Handy, whose crew concludes another splendid season with an 11-4 mark. "All throughout the season, we've had our ups and downs, but when you have Tatiana (Baena) and Halie (Webb), two of our better shooters, missing them, you know you're having a difficult night. You ask each one of these girls and they will tell you that the game is won or lost at the line."

The Tigers, who finished the regular season tied for second place in the standings with the Warriors, will take their 12-3 record to URI's Ryan Center on Saturday to contest regular-season champion Hope (13-2), a 66-50 winner over Mount Pleasant in the other semifinal-round game, for all the marbles at 10 a.m.

Exactly one week ago, the Warriors and Tigers squared off in their regular-season finale at Central Falls High, and even though the Warriors came away with a 42-38 victory, both teams clearly did not display their 'A' games. Not only did they combine for 68 turnovers (37 by the Warriors), but they also shot close to 25 percent from the floor.

On Monday night, both teams had a case of deja vu. They again reached the 60s in turnovers with 61 (31 by the Warriors), and while the Tigers shot 27 percent (15-for-55), the Warriors were a woeful 17 percent (8-for-48).

But unlike the first game, which saw CF center Sakira Wilson and forward Valarie Biascochea net double figures in points and rebounds, it was OLOF's front-court tandem of center Meaghan Welford and forward Paige Arsenault that stole the show. They each ripped down a dozen rebounds and combined for 14 points; Biascochea and Wilson each had 10 boards, but Biascochea ended up with just two points and Wilson went scoreless.

"(OLOF coach Mike Menissian) made some good adjustments and I give him a lot of credit," added Handy, whose crew scored none of their eight field goals in the paint. "He knew where we were pressuring them and he did some homework."

Another difference from the two games came in the Warriors' first-half play. It may have been their worst 16 minutes of the year. They were 1-for-14 from the floor and turned the ball over 24 times, yet only trailed by a 20-6 score at the break.

"It was absolutely a carbon copy of the first game," remarked Handy. "I don't want to discredit (Fatima), but we were literally throwing the ball away. We turned the ball over left and right and we had to control that. I think we picked it up a little bit in the second half, but I just wanted to get through with the first half, keep it close, and then come up with something at halftime. It just got to the point where I wanted to put that first half out of its misery. It was terrible."

The Tigers also had their share of problems early, yet held a mere 6-2 lead seven minutes into the game. A layup by Welford with 8:44 on the clock kicked off a mini run that extended the Tigers' lead to 12-3, and after Webb hit the front end of two free throws with 3:43 to play, OLOF responded with three straight layups, the last two by Kara Ramsey off CF turnovers, to make it an 18-4 game.

The Warriors didn't score their first field goal until Jenny Gonzalez sank a baseline jumper with 1:41 to play in the half, cutting the Tigers' lead to 18-6, but Amanda Francisco got those points back for the Tigers with an open jumper with 12.1 seconds to play, and OLOF went into the break with that 14-point command.

"I told the girls at halftime that our first half of basketball wasnt Lady Warrior basketball," said Handy. "They would have to leave it on the floor in the second half and I think they did that. We still made some mistakes, but I'm proud of the the way they left it on the floor."

In the early stages of the second half, it was the Tigers that endured the turnover bug, as they coughed up the ball seven times in the first five minutes and helped the Warriors slice their deficit to eight, 22-14. But the Tigers regained their composure and rattled off nine straight points -- the last six coming on fast-break layups -- to hike their lead to 33-14 with 6:16 to play.

But the Warriors came back with a run of their own and rattled off the next 12 points. Jenny Gonzalez highlighted the run with back-to-back three-pointers to help make it a five-point game (31-26) with 2:29 still to play.

After both teams exchanged turnovers, Welford upped OLOF's lead to 33-26 with a layup between Biascochea and Wilson with 1:43 on the clock. That turned out to be the last field goal of the game, as both teams did the rest of their scoring from the line. The Warriors went 2-for-7 in the final 1:14 of the game, while the Tigers hit just one of their two attempts.

Despite the loss, the Warriors received a standout game from Webb, a sophomore forward, who finished with a game-high 13 points and six steals. Gonzalez ended up with eight points, and Baena had just five points, but five steals and four assists.

It was a tough loss to a fabulous season, and Handy reflected on the positives from this season and was very pleased with his team's accomplishments.

"I'm very happy with them," said Handy. "We have seven sophomores, two freshmen, and two juniors, so we'll be fine next year, but we're losing our three seniors and we're going to sorely miss Tatiana and Ashley Delgado. I was hoping we could do something for them (in Saturday's state title game)."